Agree four things before you send anyone
If any of these takes more than a day to answer, that is the answer. A company that has not decided how it pays partners has not decided to have partners.
- The rate, and whether it is on collected or booked revenue.
- How long you are paid for — first year, two years, or the life of the account.
- The protection window, as a number of days from registration.
- When payment happens, and whether you have to invoice for it.
Register everything, immediately
The introduction you made in a conversation is not a record. Register the account the moment you decide to work it — before the intro, not after the deal closes — and keep the confirmation.
The most common way partners lose commission is not dishonesty on the company's side. It is that nobody wrote it down at the time, and by the time anyone looks, the deal shows as inbound.
The registration is the asset. The introduction is just work you did.
How to read a statement
A statement you cannot check is a statement you are taking on trust. That is fine until it is wrong.
- Does each line name the account and the deal, or just a total?
- Can you see the rule that produced the number — rate, basis, period?
- Are clawbacks shown as their own lines rather than netted silently into a smaller total?
- Does the collected amount match what you understood the customer paid?
Questions that reveal a real programme
- How many partners registered a deal last quarter? (Not how many partners you have.)
- What is the average time from close to commission payment?
- What happens if I register an account your team is already working?
- Who decides, and do I get a reason?
Keep your own record
Until you have one place showing every company you sell for, keep a simple sheet: account, company, date registered, protection end, expected commission, paid yes or no. It takes ten minutes a month and it is the only thing standing between you and a forgotten payment.